Stylish Afro Boutique in Harlem Is Closing

The Ashanti Bazaar, a stylish African boutique that flowered in Harlem during the black cultural renaissance of the late nineteen‐sixties, then withered during the economic recession of the early seventies, is closing its doors at the end of this month.

Its fate, according to Bill Michael, the owner, as in many ways symptomatic of the problems with which black businessmen in Harlem must cope. And the closing of Ashanti is an indication of the further deterioration of Seventh Avenue north of 125th Street, which at one time boasted a string of Afro‐oriented shops.

Chatting yesterday amid an array of explosively colorful African print fabrics, wall hangings and jewelry in the shop at Seventh Avenue and 132d Street, Mr. Michael blamed the closing both on economics and customers’ “misplaced fear” of crime in Harlem.

The shop was an immediate success when it opened in the spring of 1968, he said.

No Prior Experience

“The time was exciting,” he said. “It was the time ‘black is beautiful’ started and everybody still believed it. Black people were very much together and this type of business had a political meaning.

A 45‐year‐old construction engineer with no previous retail experience. Mr. Michael ran the shop with his wife, Sandra, a former nurseryschool teacher. They had begun by operating a boutique mail‐order business, eventually raising their own capital to open the store.

Featuring dashikis, djellabas and dresses made from African cloth by local cutters as well as imported African items, it attracted a loyal clientele, including such celebrities as Kareem Abdul Jabbar of the Milwaukee Bucks: Malcolm X's widow. Betty Shabazz, and Mrs. Jackie Robinson.

For Bill and Sandy Michael, the shop was profitable. At one time it was grossing $200,000 a year with 15 employes on the payroll. But most of all it was, in Mr. Michael's words, “our personal investigation of African culture.”

Profits began to decline in 1970, as the recession hit Harlem hard, he said. There had been eight African shops on Seventh Avenue: many of them failed. Along with the recession came what Mr. Michael called a “spiritual depression.”

“There was so much promise a few years ago,” Mrs. Michael put in. “Nov there's a tendency to say, ‘What the hell good did it all do.’ “

Mr. Michael also ran into typical problems of the Harlem businessman. He did without fire insurance for the first couple of years because, before the institution of the fire insurance “pool,” the rates in the area were as tronomical. He never was able to get burglary insurance. Local banks did not encourage him when he sought additional financing to expand.

Last year, the Michaels opened a branch store on Lexington Avenue at 65th Street, north of Bloomingdale's, the city's most bustling boutique section. But even as that shop began to get a foothold, the Harlem store suffered. Finally, the Michaels decided to concentrate their efforts on the downtown branch, which will remain open.

“It's easier for people to find,” he said. “And the whole section is becoming an ethnic shop area.” In addition, customers seem more willing to visit Lexington Avenue than upper Seventh Avenue, he noted.

“No customer to my knowledge was accosted in any way coming to the Harlem store,” he said, “but surmised they were afraid. A black person from Hempstead just finds less reason to come to Harlem.”

Ashanti (named for tribes of West Africa) has gained a following among fashion‐conscious whites as well as blacks.

Mr. Michael said that when one customer, Mrs. Jacob K. Javits, heard of his uptown troubles, she urged him to drum up publicity by calling Women's Wear Daily with the news that she had just bought some presents there for Barbara Walters and Mrs. Richard Feigen, wife of the art dealer. The item was duly printed.

Despite such recognition, Mr. Michael is clearly disappointed by the closing of the uptown store, just a few blocks from where he, was born.

“It's a surrender on our part,” he said. “But this illustrates the condition of the community. Now, survival is the most important thing.”

“Everything else”—he gestured at the shop—”is a luxury.”

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A version of this archives appears in print on October 18, 1972, on Page 51 of the New York edition with the headline: Stylish Afro Boutique in Harlem Is Closing. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe